The present invention relates to an optical disk apparatus of using a tray therein (i.e., of a tray type), and it relates to, in particular, an ejection lock mechanism in such the optical disk apparatus.
Many of the optical disk apparatuses, which are installed within a notebook type personal computer, adopt so-called a tray type, having a disk tray for loading an optical disk thereon being freely movable in/out a housing thereof. With such the apparatus, in particular, when loading the optical disk thereon, the tray is pulled out from the housing, so as to attach (i.e., load) the optical disk thereon, and is pulled back into the housing, thereby to start driving of the disk.
The tray-method optical disk of such the conventional art, in general, adopts the structures, wherein that tray is taken out/in from an opening formed on the housing, which is constructed by combining a top case and a bottom case. Further, on the tray are mounted a disk motor for rotationally driving the optical disk, an optical pickup for irradiating a laser beam upon the optical disk, thereby recording/reproducing a signal thereon/from, an optical pickup transmission mechanism for moving the optical pickup in a radial direction of the optical disk, and an ejection lock mechanism for locking the tray at an insertion position within the housing of the apparatus, etc., and, on both sides of that tray are rails for guiding the tray to be inserted into and discharged from the housing. On the other hand, on that housing are provide rail guides for guiding the rails thereon, and a lock member for locking the tray, etc., and thereby enabling an ejecting operation of the tray with using an eject button provided on a front bezel.
However, the conventional ejection lock mechanism applied within such the tray-type optical disk apparatus is already disclosed, for example, in the following Patent Document 1, has the structures, including a lock arm and a lock spring, a reset arm and a reset spring, a driving arm and a driving spring, and a solenoid plunger, etc., thereby achieving a small-sized mechanism for enabling the ejection with stability. Also, the similar structures are also disclosed, for example, in the following Patent Document 2, which will be mentioned below. Further, in the following Patent Document 3, which will be mentioned below, there are disclosed the structures of adopting a release arm therein, which are constructed with a plural number of members, for increasing reliability with respect to a lifetime of the ejection lock mechanism mentioned above.
Also, for example, in the following Patent Document 4, in the place of such the structures of three (3) members as was mentioned, there is disclosed the structures of unifying or integrating them into one body, and further in the following Patent Document 5, for example, there is disclosed an attempt of omitting a drive spring therefrom, by forming the lock arm in the ejection lock mechanism with the drive spring into a one (1) body, through the plastic molding.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2004-303289 (2004);
[Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2004-234800 (2004);
[Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2006-120190 (2006);
[Patent Document 4] Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2006-190350 (2006); and
[Patent Document 5] Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. Hei 8-235717 (1996).